Independent or Ignored

I don't know whether to think that I have a resourceful child, or that I am a bad parent.  Tiger sort of asked me for some cereal with milk on it (as opposed to eating it dry) and then told me he wanted his movie, no cereal, no movie, etc. so I ignored him.  Then he came in the office to see me and told me he really wanted cereal.  

"Which cereal?  Square (mini wheats) or round (Cheerios)?"

"Square cereals."

"Ok. Let's get you a clean bowl."  I reach for his bowl and it has 10 or so mini wheats in it: dry.  The bag of mini wheats is on the table, and I know I left it on the counter.  

"Mom, I want milk on it."

Really, he just needed help with the milk part.  Resourceful? Ignored?  You decide.

Stairs

For a child who is behind on gross-motor development, I have one thing to say about Blanket: "the day he does something is the day before he is good at it." This kid takes his time. Blanket is ready learn something new only after he has studied others doing it, and explored his abilities, assured himself he can do it without falling, built up his confidence, and then psyched himself up for it. Then he spends all afternoon mastering it. This is what he did on Valentine's day. Just for fun. He learned to go upstairs by himself.
This doesn't freak me out. I taught him to go downstairs when he was 10 months old so that when he finally learned to go up, he wouldn't fall down. Now he loves to go up and down stairs. He actually went down the other day while I was in the shower. Apparently, the bathroom isn't as fun as it used to be, and he wanted to go play toys with his brother.
In other news, he crawls. For real. He actually crawls. Not all the time, and not always with perfect form, but he crawls. Next comes walking; make that running.

How to fall asleep standing up.

My second favorite shirt

For those of you new to this blog meet Cloth:

For Cloth's history go click on the label Cloth down there on the side. Tiger loves Cloth and will be using him until he disintegrates completely. At least the bigger part of Cloth. Recently, Tiger gave the smaller portion to his favorite sleeping buddy, Puppy. Tiger can't go to sleep until he and Puppy both have their Cloth.







Even before Blanket was born I knew which of my many shirts I was going to give to him for his "cloth." Somewhere along the way that cloth picked up the name "Wa-Wa" and he loves it. He isn't quite as attached to Wa-Wa as Tiger is to Cloth, but it is loved too. I did remove the collar from the shirt, and it had 5 or 6 small holes before it became Blanket's property. All the rest of the damage is 15 months worth of love. As you can see, he didn't even want me to photograph it, he just wanted to hold it for himself.
Wa-Wa started life as a t-shirt that I picked up at 2001 NHRA Winternationals in Pomona, CA. It was a short weekend trip B.A.R. and I took while we were dating, and before we were engaged. I loved that shirt. It was my second favorite shirt and has become an inseperable part of Blanket and his bedtime. Oh, and he can't play peek-a-boo without it.

There's something different around here

Have you noticed?

Random photos from the last few days

"...and another one bites the dust." I just love it when my kids fall asleep somewhere besides the car or their beds, because it rarely happens.
Mr. Music and Mr. Anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better got the kitchen groove on.
This little concert was REALLY loud, but kept them busy while I was doing some other things.

Seriously, are this kids legs never not crossed? And he was pretending to eat ice cream. He didn't want any of ours, just a bowl and a spoon for himself . It kept him busy for longer than it took Tiger to actually eat two scoops of ice cream.

Bein' lazy on a Saturday morning.

A Tuesday morning photo shoot.

I tried to get newer pictures of the boys this morning....











Sometimes cooperation just isn't the name of the game.

Tiger's Birthday

So Sunday was Tiger's birthday, and we celebrated. He spent all week leading up to his birthday trying to get us to have the festivities early.

On Friday we went and bought his birthday presents. He got money from his grandparents on Thursday so we went and picked out his presents. I had been telling him since Christmas that he would be getting a Doodle Pro for his birthday, and he kept telling me he wanted a truck instead. My house is overrun with trucks, really. While we were at Target he picked out the Doodle Pro without any fuss. Then he picked out 5 or so other things that he wanted. He would see something and decide that was the gift and then something better would come along and that was the gift. He finally settled on some more Take Along Thomas trains for his collection. The best part was when he got the ones he wanted he didn't even ask for anything else. He really got what he wanted. He spent all afternoon Friday playing with his trains in the package, and all day Saturday asking if he could unwrap them and play with them.

Around Blanket's b-day I asked Tiger if he wanted a tractor cake or a train cake. Train cakes are traditional in our family but Tiger is a big fan of tractors so I wanted him to have the option. For a week or two he said he wanted a tractor cake, and then he changed his mind in Jan. He told me every week that he wanted a train cake. So, a train cake he got. I made it on Saturday morning and let him pick the frosting color. He spent Saturday asking if we could eat the cake.

Thank goodness for 8:30 church on Sunday. He didn't have time to ask about the presents and cake Sunday morning, and so we had the festivities for lunch.

After a lunch of cake he played for a few minutes and then came in the other room and asked if he could play with his trains (now partially unwrapped). So we did the unwrapping thing and he has been playing with them every day since.


He even gets up in the morning and goes downstairs to play with them instead of bugging me. The only problem is now he is even more possessive of his trains and screams if Blanket gets in the room with his trains.

A milestone morning.

Really, this shouldn't be news: Blanket sits.   

But he really just sat himself up for the first time ever.  Usually he whines on his back forever until you get tired of the noise.  And he can make quite the noise.  Then you sit him up and he scoots instead of crawling.

In the last month the scooting has progressed to "swimming".  He will pull himself up our step and slide across the hardwood or tile on his belly.    As he still doesn't crawl, this is the best he can do.  

Lately he has been working with his legs a little more and putting some small attempts at crawling together.  These are really only attempts.  There is no arm/leg coordination while on his belly.

So, just a minute ago I changed his diaper on his back and left him there laying on a pillow.   He turned on his side and slid off the pillow.  He worked himself onto his belly and did the swimming thing across the floor.  Then the most amazing thing happened: he got into the crawling "start" position (a first for this)  and from that he sat himself up.  He sat there for a minute and was so proud of himself.  Then he scooted off on other adventures. 

He may yet crawl before he walks, but I won't bet on it.  I hope now he will learn to sit himself up in his crib.

1090 days

That's 365 +365 +366-6.  That means that today Tiger is 6 days from his 3rd birthday.  That means that I have survived.  Survived the same number of days with Tiger as I spent waiting for him.  Today Tiger is as old as his sister would have been the day he was born.

(For those of you who don't know, I had a daughter who was stillborn at 32 weeks gestation.)

Maybe that explains my mild depression since Christmas, my lack of posting to the blog, my disinterest in political matters, and my general sense of blah.  I am a little more pensive these days and a little less active.  I hope that writing this post will help to remove the melancholy I have been experiencing.

I think about the last 1090 days, and what a contrast they are from the previous 1090. 

•  I now spend my days cleaning up messes I didn't create instead of those of my own making.   
• I haven't moved in the last 1090, I spent the former at 6 addresses in 4 states in 3 time zones, and purchased 3 houses.
• Since Tiger was born I have taken one trip on an airplane.  In the 3 years prior I took 8 different trips to different places!
• I read more and I sew more than I did before. Don't ask me how I have the time.
• Now I blog.
• Saturdays are now spent around the house instead of looking for really fun excursions to do.
• We take train rides on vacation now, I don't know why we didn't before.
• Now I am rarely the first one out of bed, I am attending to the first one out of bed. 
• Instead of no children, I have 2 children.
• Instead of finding ways to amuse myself, I am finding ways of amusing my children and myself.
• The anger and rage I spent 1090 days acquiring has finally all gone away.
• The last 1090 went by quickly, though not everyday was fast.  The prior 1090 felt like time often stood still.
• I take very few things for granted, though I am much more of a realist now than I used to be.
• I understand much more about when life begins and what coming to earth is all about.
• I fear for the future now, and yet go boldly into it.
• I have a greater ability to be compassionate, understanding and empathetic.
• I understand that sometimes timing is everything.
• I know that trials in life aren't always about us, but the good we can do because of them.
• I am happier now, even if my house is less clean.

Today is a milestone in my life.  I would like to see where I am in the next 1090 and see what has changed.   Let's see that's Jan 26, 2012.